So Much More Than Decoration
Eyes.
Tap. Two, fourteen, fifty-seven. Tap. Two, fourteen, fifty-eight. Tap. Two, fourteen, fifty-nine. Tap. Two, fifteen.
Thank God! Amberlyn thought to herself jolting up off her seat, ceasing the tapping motion of her foot against the leg of the table the second the final bell rang. To say she was excited would be saying kids, kinda like candy.
Stuffing her messenger bag as quickly as she could, Amberlyn rushed not wanting to keep Josh waiting. The entirety of her last period was spent fretting about the first plans she’d made with someone and without Chloe. It was a little sad she thought, considering she was almost seventeen and Josh was basically the first person to ask her to do something after school hours. To Amberlyn it would have been that much better if it didn’t involve school work, but hell- she’d take it!
Spinning the combination to her lock, Amberlyn uncharacteristically tossed the belongings she didn’t need onto the shelf in her locker. Pulling her grey cardigan off the hook and slipping it on before anymore time could be wasted. Amberlyn kicked her locker shut lightly with her foot and closed the lock with her free hand; the other still wiggling through the sleeve of the sweater.
With a quick pace she navigated herself through the halls, eager to meet Josh. If people weren’t in the way she probably would have ran to the back doors- luckily for her and her dignity, the halls were still full, so she didn’t.
Amberlyn was never one for tardiness, so naturally when she got to the alley before Josh did- it was no big deal. She sat on the second last step, reclaiming her old seat from Monday. Fidgeting with her bags, Amberlyn began to unclip the front buckles of her messenger bag and dug through it, her red painted finger nails finally scratching the surface of the item she was looking for. Pulling out her mobile she turned it off silence checking the time.
2:19pm
Oh? Amberlyn noted at how quickly she managed to scramble herself together and get from one end of the school and back. Figuring Josh would be along shortly, Amberlyn fiddled with her phone, playing with all the little applications. Opening the organizer first. As she always did, she input her school schedule onto her phone and important days, like tests, projects, assignments, labs and all those fun things.
Being the silly girl that she was, beside todays date she input:
Meet Josh after school (-:
2:15- no end time
Pressing enter the girl smiled to herself, waiting for it to finish before exiting the application and placing her mobile back into her leather sac. Gazing along the horizon, she noted the same group of boys from earlier the week soaking in the noise of the skateboards scratching the pavement.
Waiting, waiting and waiting, Amberlyn sat on the steps behind the school hoping Josh would show up soon. Minutes passed and Josh still hadn’t showed up, leaving Amberlyn with the distress of thinking she was ditched. One more minute, she thought, fidgeting with her phone she pulled out again to check the time.
One more minute turned into thirty-two as Amberlyn’s spirits sunk. She had been forgotten. It was almost three in the afternoon and Amberlyn had been sitting there like a fool waiting for Josh. A small lump began to clog her throat as her heart began to swell from feeling neglected. He said to meet him here right? Maybe she misheard him, and he meant another day. Or maybe this was a cruel prank on a lonely new girl. The lump in her throat began to grow as her eyes began to sting with a slight itch.
No. Amberlyn thought to herself dusting off her skirt and bending over to pick up the rest of her belongings. She was not going to cry, she commanded herself. Not here anyways.
The volume of wooden boards hitting the pavement began to increase as Amberlyn slung her messenger bag over her shoulder followed by a tote bag filled with her gym clothes. Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry...Amberlyn repeated to herself as she swallowed the lump abstaining her from breathing normally. She shuffled quietly down the remaining steps and towards the exit of the parking lot leading to the street.
Amberlyn felt like a gullible child waiting for Santa on Christmas eve- believing he’d come. Her heart was crushed thinking it was probably some sick joke to make fun of the new girl with no friends. Her jaw clenched tightly, before releasing to gnaw on her lip keeping her distracted from the pools of salty liquid daring to fall from her eyes. As she walked away from the meeting point, it was as if all the volume intensified as the sound of the skateboards got louder, as did the voices of the owners. Amberlyn felt her mind was playing mean tricks on her as she could have sworn she heard her name.
“Amberlyn.” She thought someone called, but continued on.
“Amberlyn, wait!” She heard again, this time clearly after the scratch of wood on pavement and footsteps. Fearing she was going slightly mental, she paused and listened closer. Instead, she felt a figure loom over her, hearing a sigh mix with exhaustion and relief as a hand touched her shoulder.
“For a little girl, you walk fast.” A voice smiled from behind Amberlyn.
Turning, she quickly whipped the pools of tears that built up but never fell not wanting the stranger to see her cry. She turned to face the owner of the hand and voice, only for her bottom lip to tremble while her blank face drew a hard line. Amberlyn’s distress was clearly painted on her face as she met the face of a smiling Josh, his smile soon fading as he saw her.
“Amberlyn, what’s wrong?” His voice seemingly filled with concern.
His question was met with a vague answer of Amberlyn’s head shaking, trying to express something while she held her voice from speaking.
“You okay?” Josh tried again, concern now consuming his voice. He placed his hands lightly on her arms by her elbows as he bent down to catch her gaze. Josh knew immediately he crossed a line with her once she shivered under his touch. He dropped his hands, but tried to get an answer out of her again. “Amberlyn, what happened?”
After a deep breath Amberlyn squeaked out, “I thought you weren’t going to show.”
Josh felt his heart sink low into his stomach once he heard her words. He felt horrible for being the reason Amberlyn was so upset. He placed her hands in his trying again to touch her in an innocent manner in hopes of comforting her. Amberlyn allowed his hands to hold hers, because in all honesty- it did make her feel better.
“Of course I’d show. I was there the entire time waiting for you.”
Those were the only words Amberlyn needed to hear.
---
“You were so small, I couldn’t see you sitting on the steps.” Josh laughed. “So when you stood up I finally saw you and said bye to my mates to meet you.”
Amberlyn smiled up at Josh as they walked towards her house deciding it was closer and that’s where Amberlyn’s old notes were. As they walked, Josh acted like a complete gentleman towards Amberlyn- always checking to make sure she was okay since he felt it was his fault she was upset. She told him she was just overly sensitive, regardless he continued to apologize.
As they walked up the street Amberlyn was slowly becoming familiar with as her new home, Josh steered the conversation in a new direction. Asking her more about herself, seeing as he felt he was doing all the talking.
“What’s it like to be a twin?” He mused. “I imagine it’d be interesting.”
“A bit.” Amberlyn responded with a meek voice.
“A bit. Well, that was riveting.” Josh mocked. “Common, I’m trying to get to know you here. Work with me a bit, yeah?”
Heat began to rush to her cheeks at his words, she wasn’t used to this. She wasn’t used to people asking about her, most didn’t care with Chloe in the picture.
“Its nothing special I guess. I mean, not when Chloe is your sister.” Amberlyn spoke up, trying her best to answer Josh’s question and keep the conversation going.
“She is quite the girl.” Josh agreed, before continuing to play twenty questions with Amberlyn, hoping to learn more about her and her sister.
Once arriving at the Finch residence, Amberlyn guided Josh towards the dining room table while she excused herself quickly to run upstairs and grab her old notes. While she was scavenging for notes, Josh roamed the living room connecting to the dining room. He soaked in the homey feel of the Finch residence as he noted all the warm colours filling the room. Josh walked slowly as his hand grazing the shelves plastered with pictures, awards and ribbons won by the girls. Stopping to look at one picture in particular- one of Amberlyn and Chloe as children. They were both facing the camera but had each other wrapped in a big hug with brilliant smiles plastered on their faces, they truly were twins.
“Josh?” Amberlyn called from the table once she noticed he wasn’t there.
“Sorry.”
“Its okay.” She smiled slightly.
“You look cute here.”
“You can’t even tell which one us is which.”
“I bet I could.” Josh grinned cheekily.
“Oh really now? No one besides our Mum, Dad and Gran can tell us apart.”
“If I get it right, what do I get?”
“I don’t know,” Amberlyn paused to think for a second. “What do you want?”
Josh paused for a minute, not wanting to blurt out the answer he wanted to say first. “How about this, if I can get it right then I need a favour, that isn’t help with physics. Deal?”
“I suppose so.”
“Alright.” Josh said turning to the photo to further inspect it, not wanting to be wrong now that he had something important to gain from this. He turned to Amberlyn, checking her features again, leaning forward to get a better look. Josh was less than three inches away from Amberlyn’s face as his eyes scanned every inch of her face. Josh causing her temperature quickly rise from both being so close to him and from him mapping out every detail of her face with his eyes.
“This one.” He said turning back to the photo, pointing to the girl he thought was Amberlyn. “This one right here is you.”
Amberlyn’s eyes lit up, as did a smile on her lips. “How’d you know?”
“Your eyes.” Josh smiled cheekily, relieved he got it right. “Yours have little flakes of gold in them by the iris. Chloe’s don’t.”
Further amazed by Josh, Amberlyn smiled wildly as her silly crush on Josh grew. As she stared at him, smiling like a mad woman she was distracted for a second with the thought of the favour Josh needed from her. As far she knew, the only think she had Josh would possibly need is help with physics- and he was already getting that.
“Well since you guessed it, what’s the favour you need?”
“Well, ugh.” Josh started, as his cheeks began heating up with a slight pink. He leaned in close and shifted his eyes around the room as if he was afraid someone else would hear him besides Amberlyn.
“I need your help asking out Chloe.” He whispered in her ear.
The last word echoing heartbreak in her ear; Chloe.
Thank God! Amberlyn thought to herself jolting up off her seat, ceasing the tapping motion of her foot against the leg of the table the second the final bell rang. To say she was excited would be saying kids, kinda like candy.
Stuffing her messenger bag as quickly as she could, Amberlyn rushed not wanting to keep Josh waiting. The entirety of her last period was spent fretting about the first plans she’d made with someone and without Chloe. It was a little sad she thought, considering she was almost seventeen and Josh was basically the first person to ask her to do something after school hours. To Amberlyn it would have been that much better if it didn’t involve school work, but hell- she’d take it!
Spinning the combination to her lock, Amberlyn uncharacteristically tossed the belongings she didn’t need onto the shelf in her locker. Pulling her grey cardigan off the hook and slipping it on before anymore time could be wasted. Amberlyn kicked her locker shut lightly with her foot and closed the lock with her free hand; the other still wiggling through the sleeve of the sweater.
With a quick pace she navigated herself through the halls, eager to meet Josh. If people weren’t in the way she probably would have ran to the back doors- luckily for her and her dignity, the halls were still full, so she didn’t.
Amberlyn was never one for tardiness, so naturally when she got to the alley before Josh did- it was no big deal. She sat on the second last step, reclaiming her old seat from Monday. Fidgeting with her bags, Amberlyn began to unclip the front buckles of her messenger bag and dug through it, her red painted finger nails finally scratching the surface of the item she was looking for. Pulling out her mobile she turned it off silence checking the time.
2:19pm
Oh? Amberlyn noted at how quickly she managed to scramble herself together and get from one end of the school and back. Figuring Josh would be along shortly, Amberlyn fiddled with her phone, playing with all the little applications. Opening the organizer first. As she always did, she input her school schedule onto her phone and important days, like tests, projects, assignments, labs and all those fun things.
Being the silly girl that she was, beside todays date she input:
Meet Josh after school (-:
2:15- no end time
Pressing enter the girl smiled to herself, waiting for it to finish before exiting the application and placing her mobile back into her leather sac. Gazing along the horizon, she noted the same group of boys from earlier the week soaking in the noise of the skateboards scratching the pavement.
Waiting, waiting and waiting, Amberlyn sat on the steps behind the school hoping Josh would show up soon. Minutes passed and Josh still hadn’t showed up, leaving Amberlyn with the distress of thinking she was ditched. One more minute, she thought, fidgeting with her phone she pulled out again to check the time.
One more minute turned into thirty-two as Amberlyn’s spirits sunk. She had been forgotten. It was almost three in the afternoon and Amberlyn had been sitting there like a fool waiting for Josh. A small lump began to clog her throat as her heart began to swell from feeling neglected. He said to meet him here right? Maybe she misheard him, and he meant another day. Or maybe this was a cruel prank on a lonely new girl. The lump in her throat began to grow as her eyes began to sting with a slight itch.
No. Amberlyn thought to herself dusting off her skirt and bending over to pick up the rest of her belongings. She was not going to cry, she commanded herself. Not here anyways.
The volume of wooden boards hitting the pavement began to increase as Amberlyn slung her messenger bag over her shoulder followed by a tote bag filled with her gym clothes. Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry...Amberlyn repeated to herself as she swallowed the lump abstaining her from breathing normally. She shuffled quietly down the remaining steps and towards the exit of the parking lot leading to the street.
Amberlyn felt like a gullible child waiting for Santa on Christmas eve- believing he’d come. Her heart was crushed thinking it was probably some sick joke to make fun of the new girl with no friends. Her jaw clenched tightly, before releasing to gnaw on her lip keeping her distracted from the pools of salty liquid daring to fall from her eyes. As she walked away from the meeting point, it was as if all the volume intensified as the sound of the skateboards got louder, as did the voices of the owners. Amberlyn felt her mind was playing mean tricks on her as she could have sworn she heard her name.
“Amberlyn.” She thought someone called, but continued on.
“Amberlyn, wait!” She heard again, this time clearly after the scratch of wood on pavement and footsteps. Fearing she was going slightly mental, she paused and listened closer. Instead, she felt a figure loom over her, hearing a sigh mix with exhaustion and relief as a hand touched her shoulder.
“For a little girl, you walk fast.” A voice smiled from behind Amberlyn.
Turning, she quickly whipped the pools of tears that built up but never fell not wanting the stranger to see her cry. She turned to face the owner of the hand and voice, only for her bottom lip to tremble while her blank face drew a hard line. Amberlyn’s distress was clearly painted on her face as she met the face of a smiling Josh, his smile soon fading as he saw her.
“Amberlyn, what’s wrong?” His voice seemingly filled with concern.
His question was met with a vague answer of Amberlyn’s head shaking, trying to express something while she held her voice from speaking.
“You okay?” Josh tried again, concern now consuming his voice. He placed his hands lightly on her arms by her elbows as he bent down to catch her gaze. Josh knew immediately he crossed a line with her once she shivered under his touch. He dropped his hands, but tried to get an answer out of her again. “Amberlyn, what happened?”
After a deep breath Amberlyn squeaked out, “I thought you weren’t going to show.”
Josh felt his heart sink low into his stomach once he heard her words. He felt horrible for being the reason Amberlyn was so upset. He placed her hands in his trying again to touch her in an innocent manner in hopes of comforting her. Amberlyn allowed his hands to hold hers, because in all honesty- it did make her feel better.
“Of course I’d show. I was there the entire time waiting for you.”
Those were the only words Amberlyn needed to hear.
---
“You were so small, I couldn’t see you sitting on the steps.” Josh laughed. “So when you stood up I finally saw you and said bye to my mates to meet you.”
Amberlyn smiled up at Josh as they walked towards her house deciding it was closer and that’s where Amberlyn’s old notes were. As they walked, Josh acted like a complete gentleman towards Amberlyn- always checking to make sure she was okay since he felt it was his fault she was upset. She told him she was just overly sensitive, regardless he continued to apologize.
As they walked up the street Amberlyn was slowly becoming familiar with as her new home, Josh steered the conversation in a new direction. Asking her more about herself, seeing as he felt he was doing all the talking.
“What’s it like to be a twin?” He mused. “I imagine it’d be interesting.”
“A bit.” Amberlyn responded with a meek voice.
“A bit. Well, that was riveting.” Josh mocked. “Common, I’m trying to get to know you here. Work with me a bit, yeah?”
Heat began to rush to her cheeks at his words, she wasn’t used to this. She wasn’t used to people asking about her, most didn’t care with Chloe in the picture.
“Its nothing special I guess. I mean, not when Chloe is your sister.” Amberlyn spoke up, trying her best to answer Josh’s question and keep the conversation going.
“She is quite the girl.” Josh agreed, before continuing to play twenty questions with Amberlyn, hoping to learn more about her and her sister.
Once arriving at the Finch residence, Amberlyn guided Josh towards the dining room table while she excused herself quickly to run upstairs and grab her old notes. While she was scavenging for notes, Josh roamed the living room connecting to the dining room. He soaked in the homey feel of the Finch residence as he noted all the warm colours filling the room. Josh walked slowly as his hand grazing the shelves plastered with pictures, awards and ribbons won by the girls. Stopping to look at one picture in particular- one of Amberlyn and Chloe as children. They were both facing the camera but had each other wrapped in a big hug with brilliant smiles plastered on their faces, they truly were twins.
“Josh?” Amberlyn called from the table once she noticed he wasn’t there.
“Sorry.”
“Its okay.” She smiled slightly.
“You look cute here.”
“You can’t even tell which one us is which.”
“I bet I could.” Josh grinned cheekily.
“Oh really now? No one besides our Mum, Dad and Gran can tell us apart.”
“If I get it right, what do I get?”
“I don’t know,” Amberlyn paused to think for a second. “What do you want?”
Josh paused for a minute, not wanting to blurt out the answer he wanted to say first. “How about this, if I can get it right then I need a favour, that isn’t help with physics. Deal?”
“I suppose so.”
“Alright.” Josh said turning to the photo to further inspect it, not wanting to be wrong now that he had something important to gain from this. He turned to Amberlyn, checking her features again, leaning forward to get a better look. Josh was less than three inches away from Amberlyn’s face as his eyes scanned every inch of her face. Josh causing her temperature quickly rise from both being so close to him and from him mapping out every detail of her face with his eyes.
“This one.” He said turning back to the photo, pointing to the girl he thought was Amberlyn. “This one right here is you.”
Amberlyn’s eyes lit up, as did a smile on her lips. “How’d you know?”
“Your eyes.” Josh smiled cheekily, relieved he got it right. “Yours have little flakes of gold in them by the iris. Chloe’s don’t.”
Further amazed by Josh, Amberlyn smiled wildly as her silly crush on Josh grew. As she stared at him, smiling like a mad woman she was distracted for a second with the thought of the favour Josh needed from her. As far she knew, the only think she had Josh would possibly need is help with physics- and he was already getting that.
“Well since you guessed it, what’s the favour you need?”
“Well, ugh.” Josh started, as his cheeks began heating up with a slight pink. He leaned in close and shifted his eyes around the room as if he was afraid someone else would hear him besides Amberlyn.
“I need your help asking out Chloe.” He whispered in her ear.
The last word echoing heartbreak in her ear; Chloe.